The "What Are You Working On?" Thread

[Johnr777]

Giving the asphalt some life

Light poles, speakers, wiring all over the place

 

[RobertR1]

Wiring. The eternal enemy for us VR users.

 

[AccAkut]

what better things to do early Saturday morning than some blendering

everything rather low res as all of this is x30. Not totally sure how many materials I need in the end, or how I'll set up the outer walls for example.. but it won't be simbin style with like 20 just for the stuff inside the garages.
(the race07 rips you find use around 400 materials, with over 451 textures.. it's drawcall madness. My whole track so far uses 47 materials with 63 textures )

 

[Nedddo]

I'm sure it's really motivating when you post some of your work and all mfs can say is "when release"

Not even "when release", but "when release other thing"

I don't know where I asked explicitly 'wen release plz', but I understand that I implicated it. 'Coming along' according to google can mean explicit coming/releasing, but it is also used in the sense of general completion of something. I'm not telling 'when is it coming along' or 'release it and tell me the exact time!!!' but more like 'how is it coming along i.e. tell me if you have done anything on that?'. I know that then guessing can be made about release timeframe, but its just guessing that I at least would keep in my head.

Yes, I would like all those mods released as soon as possible, but I know that this stuff isn't easy and it's very time consuming, and I'm not forcing anyone to work, and I wouldn't even if I had the power to do that. Also, just because I'm asking about other project, doesn't mean I am not happy for the one(s) shown.

I admit that I should have been more polite and clear though. English is not my first language also.

Everybody here, and especially @Modek, If I appeared as selfish and unthankful, I apologize since it wasn't my intention. Also I am sorry for my spoilage.

 

[Scholesy46]

Jag XJR-12 D. Slowly coming along. Not entirely confident in what I'm doing so it's probably a little rough in areas but nonetheless I'm happy with it, especially given it's my first real proper attempt at modelling a car in a long time.

Modelling is being done in Maya

 

[Rodger Davies]

@Johnr777 wow, I never realised just how much all the tarmac texturing adds to the circuit until those pics of yours above - great update thanks

 

[GTAce]

Holy mother of sweet baby Jesus.

 

[Trava]

"A little rough" is one way to describe it. The topology looks crazy messy so if I were you, I'd stop now and instead learn proper techniques and modeling hygiene before attempting to tackle as big of a project as a full car from scratch. It'll save you a lot of time, effort and frustration as you get better down the line and realize you have to remake almost the entire thing.
Not trying to be mean or anything, just trying to save you from making the same mistake as I did.

What exactly are you using as reference? Image modeler scene, blueprints, eyeballing?

And in the future, if you want to show wireframe, post pics with isoline disabled.

 

[Jim Layee]

"A little rough" is one way to describe it. The topology looks crazy messy so if I were you, I'd stop now and instead learn proper techniques and modeling hygiene before attempting to tackle as big of a project as a full car from scratch. It'll save you a lot of time, effort and frustration as you get better down the line and realize you have to remake almost the entire thing.
Not trying to be mean or anything, just trying to save you from making the same mistake as I did.

What exactly are you using as reference? Image modeler scene, blueprints, eyeballing?

And in the future, if you want to show wireframe, post pics with isoline disabled.

Before you post again you should consider learning how not be a total arse.

 

[Scholesy46]

"A little rough" is one way to describe it. The topology looks crazy messy so if I were you, I'd stop now and instead learn proper techniques and modeling hygiene before attempting to tackle as big of a project as a full car from scratch. It'll save you a lot of time, effort and frustration as you get better down the line and realize you have to remake almost the entire thing.
Not trying to be mean or anything, just trying to save you from making the same mistake as I did.

What exactly are you using as reference? Image modeler scene, blueprints, eyeballing?

And in the future, if you want to show wireframe, post pics with isoline disabled.

I'm using a photoscan I took of the car from Goodwood FoS this year. One of the reasons it looks somewhat messy is due to the fact I'm trying to get the mesh ready for seperating each body part, front cover, doors, engine cover etc etc.

Also yes, I am aware that my 3D modelling skills aren't close to the ability of others on this forum. I have attempted to follow multiple different tutorials to answer questions I have however have come up short as I typically don't know what the terminology is.

I'm also enjoying the challenge. Yes there are definitely areas that are difficult and can lead to frustration but on the flip side I feel like I'm learning much more getting it wrong and realising where I've gone wrong and learning from that.

 

[Trava]

Before you post again you should consider learning how not be a total arse.

Or maybe learn how to accept criticism. From my own experience I'd rather have someone tell me that my work sucks plain and simple early on than pat me on the back and let me waste 100 hours on something that I'll need to rework from the ground up later once I've learned enough to actually realize that it's not up to standard for the sake of not coming off as a "total arse".

I'm using a photoscan I took of the car from Goodwood FoS this year. One of the reasons it looks somewhat messy is due to the fact I'm trying to get the mesh ready for seperating each body part, front cover, doors, engine cover etc etc.

Also yes, I am aware that my 3D modelling skills aren't close to the ability of others on this forum. I have attempted to follow multiple different tutorials to answer questions I have however have come up short as I typically don't know what the terminology is.

I'm also enjoying the challenge. Yes there are definitely areas that are difficult and can lead to frustration but on the flip side I feel like I'm learning much more getting it wrong and realising where I've gone wrong and learning from that.

Photoscan should fairly accurate for reference so that's good, much better than blueprints or eyeballing it. As far as I'm aware the industry workflow is to model the car as a single piece and then start adding details like panel gaps etc once the shape is finalized and subdivided, makes for a much easier and simpler work as you don't have to worry about keeping the topology in quads and uneven density messing up curves. If you aren't sure, ask. There's plenty of people that have been doing this for years and can offer you advice based on the things they've learned along the way, sometimes very specific stuff that you won't find in youtube tutorials.

While I found learning the "hard way" a good way to find a suitable workflow that works for me, it also made me waste couple hundred hours that I could have spent improving in other areas. So in my opinion it's better to ask first and then find a way that works for you based on the answers you received rather than stumble in the dark trying to figure something out by trial and error.

It's all part of the learning process and there's nothing wrong with your work not being perfect or even good. It's pretending that it's flawless when it clearly isn't and labeling all people trying to point out the flaws as "toxic" that is a massive issue that has been showing more and more recently. So kudos to you sir for being able to acknowledge that instead of going off on a rant.

 

[Kyuubeey]

Before you post again you should consider learning how not be a total arse.

That's a very mild critique by Trava and it's more or less correct. Who are you even? Have you ever even modeled anything? What compelled you to post a bad post like that?

You do know that if you encourage beginners to continue bad practices, you're going to handicap them really badly later on? When it gets actually tough and they have to redo a few hundred hours of work, most of them burn out and quit entirely. I've seen it happen for more 3D guys than I can count and a few physics guys too.

You guys need to stop this kind of anti-critique thinking. It just keeps everyone down.

@Scholesy46 Hop onto the CSP Discord and ask the people there. Good modelers like Gary and Stereo frequent it. Why learn from tutorials when you can just get it from the horse's mouth?

 

[Stereo]

For the record I agree with Jim Layee, it's not an appropriate way to provide feedback

 

[Scholesy46]

Photoscan should fairly accurate for reference so that's good, much better than blueprints or eyeballing it. As far as I'm aware the industry workflow is to model the car as a single piece and then start adding details like panel gaps etc once the shape is finalized and subdivided, makes for a much easier and simpler work as you don't have to worry about keeping the topology in quads and uneven density messing up curves. If you aren't sure, ask. There's plenty of people that have been doing this for years and can offer you advice based on the things they've learned along the way, sometimes very specific stuff that you won't find in youtube tutorials.

While I found learning the "hard way" a good way to find a suitable workflow that works for me, it also made me waste couple hundred hours that I could have spent improving in other areas. So in my opinion it's better to ask first and then find a way that works for you based on the answers you received rather than stumble in the dark trying to figure something out by trial and error.

It's all part of the learning process and there's nothing wrong with your work not being perfect or even good. It's pretending that it's flawless when it clearly isn't and labeling all people trying to point out the flaws as "toxic" that is a massive issue that has been showing more and more recently. So kudos to you sir for being able to acknowledge that instead of going off on a rant.

Interesting that you mention the industry standard (subdividing then cutting) being the opposite to the method I'm using (cutting then subdividing) as a fair few videos on YouTube I've seen use the latter technique, but then again they may not be in the industry so there's that comment.

Yea I can understand not wanting to waste a lot of time doing things that are ultimately wrong and a waste of time. For me though I feel if I stop, try to read up or watch a video on how to it properly I'll stop modelling for a while and potentially forget where I'm at lol. But additionally on the flip side a lot of what I have been doing does somewhat feel although I'm stumbling around in the dark.

I have reached out here and there for tips and guidance outside of "you need to make sure the topology is right and xyz" kinda giving vague and indirect advice, but that's all apart of the learning process!

I won't lie that upon the very initial reading of your message I was bummed out given the amount of thumbs up and appraisal I've gotten so far however I am aware that I'm likely doing things wrong and I would like to be told what and where I'm going wrong so I do appreciate the comment. I still suck and have much to learn haha

 

[Scholesy46]

@Scholesy46 Hop onto the CSP Discord and ask the people there. Good modelers like Gary and Stereo frequent it. Why learn from tutorials when you can just get it from the horse's mouth?

I will definitely have to do that! Is there a link at all anywhere to the CSP Discord please?

 

[Trava]

I will definitely have to do that! Is there a link at all anywhere to the CSP Discord please?

Join the AC Custom Shaders Discord Server!

Check out the AC Custom Shaders community on Discord - hang out with 33572 other members and enjoy free voice and text chat.

discord.gg

 

[Ryno917]

"A little rough" is one way to describe it. The topology looks crazy messy so if I were you, I'd stop now and instead learn proper techniques and modeling hygiene before attempting to tackle as big of a project as a full car from scratch. It'll save you a lot of time, effort and frustration as you get better down the line and realize you have to remake almost the entire thing.
Not trying to be mean or anything, just trying to save you from making the same mistake as I did.

What exactly are you using as reference? Image modeler scene, blueprints, eyeballing?

And in the future, if you want to show wireframe, post pics with isoline disabled.

You can learn "proper modeling hygiene" all you want, but until you actually do it it doesn't mean anything. Understanding the theory and how to implement it are two completely, utterly different things. The first car I tried to model in Blender I started 5 times because it's really easy to say how it should be done, much more difficult to actually do it. They need to make a less-than-stellar attempt to learn from to be able to actually learn for real. Telling him to just stop now and learn is counter productive, since stopping will prevent said learning.

I get you're trying to help him, but the post does come across as fairly aggressive. Tone is difficult in text, of course. All the same, an aggressive post does not immediately make the criticism relevant, justified, or constructive, and at the same time a constructively critical post doesn't have to be aggressive. It's entirely possible be both polite and constructively critique someone's work.


@Scholesy46 re: the sub-then-cut vs cut-then-sub, you can do it however you're comfortable, but I'd recommend sub-then-cut. If you make your cuts and then subdivide it, you will never get normals consistent across panel seams. There can be an argument that it's more realistic since in real life manufacturers have draft angles to contend with on their parts so the surfaces on either side of a panel gap aren't perfectly aligned anyways, but in a digital model having a visible jog, or inconsistency, in the reflections makes the model look a bit messy. If you subdivide and then cut the model into pieces, keeping a copy of the model that isn't cut, you can transfer the normals information from the uncut model to the perimeter vertices of the seams in the cut one for pretty much perfectly consistent reflections. I don't know the proper way to do this in your software, but @Stereo posted about his method while working on his Porsche model a few months ago in Blender (using a data transfer modifier, which is better than the shrinkwrap method I've seen others use). I'm sure your software would have a similar tool/workflow to achieve the same.

As as aside, while I'm relatively new to poly modeling, your mesh doesn't look all that messy to me, aside from the cuts you've made. Your underlying poly flow looks fairly good overall. Much better than most beginners.

 

[Trava]

You can learn "proper modeling hygiene" all you want, but until you actually do it it doesn't mean anything. Understanding the theory and how to implement it are two completely, utterly different things. The first car I tried to model in Blender I started 5 times because it's really easy to say how it should be done, much more difficult to actually do it. They need to make a less-than-stellar attempt to learn from to be able to actually learn for real. Telling him to just stop now and learn is counter productive, since stopping will prevent said learning.

I get you're trying to help him, but the post does come across as fairly aggressive. Tone is difficult in text, of course. All the same, an aggressive post does not immediately make the criticism relevant, justified, or constructive. It's entirely possible be both polite and constructively critique someone's work.

That's correct, you bring up a fair point. What I was getting at, there's very little sense trying to learn actually implementing it on such a big project like this when you'll need to rework it all in the end if you want it to look decent. That's why all the beginner tutorials tell you to model a chair, donut, lamp, something that will allow you to put the theory to use without spending days tracing over complex shapes and cuts. That and just practicing without any underlying knowledge of how it should be done in the first place is counterproductive. You'll just be running in circles in the dark, taking days to figure out stuff that you could learn in hours with proper guidance.

The difference between my 2019 models and my 2021 models is massive and if I wasn't so preoccupied with practicing and instead spent more time learning the theory and actually implementing it I could've improved this much in 2 months instead of 2 years.

 

[Ben O'Bro]

i'd like to express the fact that i don't like the atmosphere here.

i post something about working on technique for trees
answer: shame it looks like crap

Modek post his Integra
answer: shame it's not what i wanted (ok, not literally, but we've seen too many answers like that)

Scholesy post his work in progress on a XJR12
answer: shame it looks like crap

Could i see a pattern here ?

This used to be a nice place to share what we were working on.
it's called The "What Are You Working On?" Thread
not The "How can we complain" Thread

if you feel like there's some constructive criticism needed, then really think about how useful it might really be, and certainly make sure it's written with care and respect

And if you don't like it, you could always use the option to remain silent and move on to something else, you have no idea how harmful disrespectful wording can be

Be courteous
Be nice
Be realistic
Be kind

Merci.

 

[Scholesy46]

That's correct, you bring up a fair point. What I was getting at, there's very little sense trying to learn actually implementing it on such a big project like this when you'll need to rework it all in the end if you want it to look decent. That's why all the beginner tutorials tell you to model a chair, donut, lamp, something that will allow you to put the theory to use without spending days tracing over complex shapes and cuts. That and just practicing without any underlying knowledge of how it should be done in the first place is counterproductive. You'll just be running in circles in the dark, taking days to figure out stuff that you could learn in hours with proper guidance.

Unfortunately I'm both an idiot and impatient and tend to want to learn how to run before I walk lol